Kim Jong Il

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Obama Sends Personal Letter to Kim Jong-Il

Missive delivered during envoy's visit to Pyongyang

(Newser) - President Obama has written a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il as part of an intense effort to draw the reclusive nation back to nuclear disarmament talks, a senior State Department official says. The letter was delivered to North Korean officials last week by Obama's special envoy during...

North Korea Tests 5 Missiles: Report

Short-range test comes despite seemingly warmer relations with South, US

(Newser) - North Korea fired five short-range missiles off its east coast today, news reports said, even as South Korea proposed working-level talks with its communist neighbor. South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified South Korean government official, said the North test-fired the surface-to-surface KN-02 rockets from mobile launch pads.

North Korea Weighs Return to Nuke Talks

Depends on meeting with US, Kim Jong Il tells China premier

(Newser) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told China's premier today that the North was prepared to return to multi-nation disarmament talks depending on progress in its two-way negotiations with the US. Kim's comments were the clearest sign yet that Pyongyang was readying to resume the six-nation talks it withdrew from...

This Looks Like a Job for the Neocons

Time for America to start flexing its muscles instead of making deals

(Newser) - Neoconservatives are making a comeback and it's about time, writes Bret Stephens. They're back "because Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il, and Vladimir Putin never went away," Stephens writes in the Wall Street Journal, and because the world wants America to use its strength to stop Iran and North...

US Rep Headed to North Korea for Nuke Talks

Bilateral negotiations would be first directly between nations

(Newser) - The US diplomat in charge of North Korea policy will visit Pyongyang next month for the first bilateral nuclear negotiations between the countries, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo reports today. Amid signs from reclusive Kim Jong Il of a thaw in relations, Stephen Bosworth will lead a delegation that will...

N. Korea Envoy Meets With South's Prez

(Newser) - An envoy from Kim Jong-il met with South Korea's president today to deliver the first direct communication between the two nations in 18 months, reports Reuters. The content of Kim's message to President Lee Myung-bak was not disclosed. But the fact that the 30-minute meeting happened at all indicates an...

Nobelist Peacemaker Kim Dae-Jung Dies at 85

(Newser) - Kim Dae-jung, the former South Korean president who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his reconciliation efforts with the North, died today at age 85. He had been hospitalized with pneumonia since last month. As a pro-democracy opposition lawmaker, Kim built a reputation as a passionate champion of human rights...

N. Korea to Reopen Border With South

Tourism and reunions with relatives in SK now possible

(Newser) - North Korea pledged today to reopen its borders with the south for tourism and family visits after reclusive leader Kim Jong-il met with the head of the South Korean Hyundai Group in Pyongyang, reports Reuters. Hyundai's Hyon Jong Un met the ailing Kim to secure the release of a detained...

Kim Jong-Il Was 'Fully Engaged' During Clinton Visit

(Newser) - Longtime Bill Clinton aide John Podesta, who accompanied the former president on his recent rescue mission to North Korea, says leader Kim Jong-Il was "fully engaged" during the visit, Reuters reports. “I would basically say that the discussions were pretty straightforward and he was fully engaged,” Podesta...

Worst-Dressed World Leaders
 Worst-Dressed 
 World Leaders 
Aug 12, 2009 6:28 PM CDT

Worst-Dressed World Leaders

Time lampoons the decadent, inept or just plain weird fashion decisions of the powerful

(Newser) - Not all world leaders are world fashion leaders. Time pokes fun at the most inept:
  1. Kim Jong-Il. He mainly wears khaki suits that call attention to his paunch and “Kanye West-sized” sunglasses.
  2. Vladimir Putin. Not a bad dresser—when he wears clothes. Unfortunately, he's often snapped shirtless to keep
...

Kim Jong Il Healthy, 'in Control': US Official

(Newser) - Kim Jong Il was healthy and "in full control of his government" when Bill Clinton met with the North Korean dictator last week, a White House official says. Kim “seemed in control of his faculties" and "sounded very reasoned" during the meeting, says National Security Advisor James...

Time to Get Tough With N. Korea
 Time to Get Tough 
 With N. Korea 
OPINION
Aug 6, 2009 6:37 AM CDT

Time to Get Tough With N. Korea

(Newser) - Getting Laura Ling and Euna Lee out of North Korea was a cakewalk compared to the real diplomatic struggles between the Obama administration and the rogue nation, writes Nicolas Kristof. The New York Times columnist, who has visited North Korea five times, used to favor engagement with Kim Jong-Il's regime....

Freed Journalists On Way Home From North Korea

(Newser) - The two US journalists pardoned today by North Korea are on their way back to the US with Bill Clinton, reports MSNBC. Euna Lee and Laura Ling are on Clinton's plane and heading to Los Angeles to be reunited with their families, a Clinton spokesman says. The two, due to...

Trip Draws Cheers, Jeers
 Trip Draws Cheers, Jeers 
opinion roundup
Aug 4, 2009 5:37 PM CDT

Trip Draws Cheers, Jeers

(Newser) - Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea is generating all kinds of debate. A sampling:
  • John Bolton on Fox: The hawkish former UN ambassador calls the trip a "classic case of rewarding bad behavior. ... Obviously, all of us want to get them out, but we want it done in a
...

Italy Foils Sale of $18M Yachts to Dear Leader

(Newser) - Italian authorities believe they have torpedoed Kim Jong-Il's hopes of acquiring a pair of new luxury yachts, the Financial Times reports. The sale of the $18 million yachts, which would have violated international sanctions, was blocked after investigators traced the contract to North Korea. Authorities say they have no proof...

North Korea Blasts 'Funny Lady' Clinton

War of words after Clinton tells Pyongyang it has 'no friends'

(Newser) - If insults were nukes, the US and North Korea would have destroyed the world today. Hillary Clinton, on a visit to Asia, told reporters that the secretive regime "has no friends left" to block denuclearization, after earlier in the week comparing Kim Jong-Il's coterie to "small children and...

Brutal North Korean Labor Camps Hold 200K

Prisoners face 15-hour days, malnutrition, executions: Korean bar

(Newser) - Some 200,000 political prisoners are held in North Korean labor camps, where they work up to 15 hours a day before dying of malnutrition by about age 50, the Washington Post reports. Testimony from survivors and former guards has been newly published by the Korean Bar Association, and new...

Kim Jong Il's 3 Sons: Are Any Fit for Power?

Experts question grit of trio, fans of Van Damme and Eric Clapton

(Newser) - Kim Jong Il has presided over North Korea’s closed, crooked government with an iron fist for decades. But as the Dear Leader’s health fades, anxious observers are analyzing his three heirs apparent—none of whom seem fit for the job, Evan Thomas and Suzanne Smalley write in Newsweek....

N. Korea Biopic May Signal Kim's Final Act

(Newser) - North Korea has started making a documentary honoring Kim Jong-il's life, leading many to suspect that the leader's final chapter is looming, Bloomberg reports. The leader, 67, is thought to have suffered a stroke last year and recent reports say he is now battling terminal pancreatic cancer. Analysts believe Kim,...

Kim Jong-il Now 'Battling Pancreatic Cancer'

(Newser) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has life-threatening pancreatic cancer, reports Reuters, citing South Korean broadcaster YTN. Many observers believe the 67-year-old communist leader also suffered a stroke last year, though his apparent health problems have never officially been confirmed.

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